X-Factor's X-Factor: Talking to Peter David

By Steve Ekstrom June 1, 2009 09:33am ET

Peter David on X-Factor

July's X-Factor #46

X-Factor started 2009 off with a little bit of controversy and a
lot of mystery; and now, nearly six months later, a new arc is well
under way and the series is quickly barreling its way toward it’s 50th
issue later in the year. Fans of the series will be pleased to know
that in June—they’ll be getting not one…but two issues of the Peter
David’s mutant-noir series with issue #44 hitting shelves June 10th and
issue #45 dropping two weeks later on the 24th. The members of X-Factor
are currently spread out pretty thinly—some of them have been flung
into the future, others have been flung into harm’s way, and a couple
are going to be thrown into each other’s arms as odd bed fellows (read
below)…or so says series writer, Peter David.

In our last interview,
David went on the record regarding his dislike for spoiler-ish solicit
materials and press which discussed upcoming storylines; he tried
explain his stance to fans—sparking an interesting debate regarding how
much advance information about a comic book storyline is too much
information.

This week, Newsarama attempted to discuss upcoming events in X-Factor
with David in the hopes of taking look forward at the near-future of
the series; but, alas, David’s potent Socratic-method of thinking and
uncanny elusiveness may have fans asking more questions than ever
before…

Newsarama: First things first, the end of this month's issue, X-Factor #43,
was pretty stunning for a lot of fans—Shatterstar is back! But it seems
this "Cortex" person has gotten to him already...so the only question
remains: Is Shatterstar going to make it past his shocking return?

Peter David: Well, he's certainly a part of the current story
arc. Whether he remains beyond issue #50 is going to depend on a
variety of things: How he works and plays with the other cast members,
the reader reaction, etc.

NRAMA: Will there be a revelation regarding Rictor's past with
Shatterstar? In the past, it's been alluded to that they were "more
than friends"...

PAD: All I will say is that the question will definitely be addressed.

NRAMA: Fans of X-Factor are getting two issues of X-Factor in June—how did that work out?

X-Factor #44, due in June

PAD: I don't know; I'm doing this interview in late May, and I
left my magic 8 ball in my other pants. Seriously: If you mean how did
that come to be? I dunno. It was a scheduling thing. It was a case of,
"Hey, Peter, guess what! We're shipping two issues of X-Factor that
month!" And it's my job to get the scripts done quickly enough in order
to make that feasible. Beyond that, you'd have to consult with the
editors or the folks in marketing. Now if you mean how did it work out
in terms of sales or fan reaction, well, we're back to magic 8 ball
land.

NRAMA: Monet St. Croix is featured on the cover of June's X-Factor #44;
with a title like "Dirty, Sexy Monet" something interesting has to be
going on--what sorts of machinations can we expect from X-Factor's bad
girl?

PAD: I'm not sure how many times I can say it: She gets naked
and gets it on with Darwin. Boy, I'm really a prisoner of this whole
spoiler mindset, aren't I. If I say I want to clamp down on
information, people get cranky because I'm not forthcoming. If on the
other hand I tell people exactly what's coming up, they think I'm
kidding.

NRAMA: Also in June, in X-Factor #45, Dr. Doom is going
to be making an appearance—it appears that he may have the answer to
the Cortex mystery; what are your thoughts on Victor Von Doom? Have his
current roles in the 'Dark Reign' storyline and the current storyline
in Fantastic Four involving the Marquis of Death had any sort of
effects on your interpretation of the character?

PAD: They've had no impact whatsoever because, first of all, I
was writing these issues before the current storylines came out, so I
had no way of knowing how he was being played. It's not as if every
script for every book gets circulated in advance to every writer; no
one has the time for it, plus who needs the increased possibilities for
security leaks? Furthermore, Doom as depicted in X-Factor #45
is eighty years in the future. He's a very different individual; I feel
confident in saying that it's a unique depiction of Von Doom.

NRAMA: Siryn and M have been BFF for quite a while now—is their relationship dynamic about to change in X-Factor #46?

PAD: Yes and no.

X-Factor #47

NRAMA: Everything seems to be bleeding together as Madrox and
Layla work their way towards answers in the future; does the future
hold any sort of clear answer for the two of these characters? Will the
Summers Rebellion provide them with the answers they're seeking or is
it distracting them from the bigger picture?

PAD: Basically the two X-Factor teams are both working different
ends of the same situation, unaware of the fact that that's what
they're doing (although Layla probably knows because, well, she does
that.) It is all going to come together, and questions will be
answered. Of course, the fun thing about X-Factor is that it's written
in the Socratic method: For every answer that's presented, more
questions are the result.

NRAMA: X-Factor #50 may still be several months away,
but all of these beats seem to be leading towards a common point; have
you been stirring this pot of intrigue since the inception of the first
issue? Will there be insight into the murder of Madrox and Layla Miller
at the hands of Wolfsbane?

PAD: I'd love to say that I'm that organized that I've been
planning issue #50 since issue #1. But I don't work that way, plus it's
pretty much impossible to function that way because you never know what
universe changes are going to occur. I mean, the original concept of
X-Factor was that they were going to be the defenders of Mutant Town,
and then "House of M" made Mutant Town pretty much moot. It was
Moot-ant town. So the race course changed before the opening gun was
even fired. Basically I seed my stories as I go. I spread plot seeds
and then over time see what grows from them. The storyline leading to
#50 is a result of some of those seeds...plus a good helping of
fertilizer.

NRAMA: On issues regarding pacing a story, how do you map out
your longer agenda when it comes to writing over-arcing plot threads?
Does it start out as an idea that you reverse-engineer into a story? Or
is it something more organic?

PAD: I have general ideas in my head, situations, and I drop the
characters into them and see how they react. And how they react guides
the story. I have an eventual outcome in my head, but how they reach
that outcome can vary wildly from what I originally conceived.

NRAMA: In the past, you've been very open about your dislike for
solicited spoiler material; you make an effort to disseminate bits of
story through a barrage of information provided in the monthly
solicitations from Marvel...does your strategy seem to be working? Do
readers need a little mystery in their lives? Does this approach sell
more copies of X-Factor?

PAD: I think I need to be more specific regarding my views about
spoilers, because it's reached the point where some fans are afraid to
discuss plot elements on threads because they think I'm going to...I
don't know. Burn down their house or something. What I've taken
specific issue with are so-called reviews--some a week in
advance--which consist of nothing but badly written summaries of every
single story beat, followed by some cogent comment such as "Meh." To
which people invariably respond, "Great review! I was thinking of
buying this book, but now I won't!" What is the point of that? What's
the purpose? But if paying customers want to discuss the latest
developments, appropriately hidden behind spoiler warnings...well, hey,
paying customers. It's their privilege and, considering what comic
books cost these days, they've certainly earned it.

The reason I was SO over the top regarding #39-#41 was that I realized
there was simply no way to discuss them without blowing major plot
lines that were going to best serve the readership if they came as a
surprise.

When Newsarama contacted me about discussing future developments, I
sent an email explaining in detail why I didn't want to do that. They
said, "Can we run the email as an interview?" That seemed kind of silly
to me, but I figured, “Hey, it's their bandwidth, they can do what they
want with it,” so I said, "Sure." And they did and it prompted all
sorts of discussion, and I thought, "I may be on to something." So I
kept the information clampdown in place. At least it presented a unique
approach to marketing, because fans encounter so much story-specific
promotion that it becomes white noise. I figured telling them nothing
gives them something new to talk about.

I've even tried to have some fun with the "no spoilers" reputation. That's why in the opening page of X-Factor
I've been writing, "And here's what's happening next issue" and then
concluding with saying, "Be sure to tell all your friends on the
internet." I figured, y'know, kid around. Have some fun with it. Make
light of my reputation and show there's no hard feelings. And how have
some people responded to that? "Boy, Peter David is sure being cranky
and complaining about the internet on the X-Factor summary
page." So, y'know, memo to me: Don't try to kid around with the
internet, because a lot of fans out there sure can't take a joke.

But now the new status quo is solidly in place, so I'm much less
concerned with discussing specific story points. Besides, people now
think that I'm a complete hard-ass about discussing story elements, so
if I go ahead and talk about what's coming up, maybe it gets their
attention even more.

NRAMA: Finally Peter - what are your plans for the rest of the convention season this year?

PAD: I'm doing San Diego, and a few smaller SF and Star Trek conventions.